Carol DeLancey is a Bike Gallery customer who grew up in Oregon, but moved two years ago to Loulé, a small city in the Algarve region of Portugal. She is a Cycle Oregon regular and is helping her partner train for this year’s event in Portugal’s incredible sunny weather.

Much has been said and written about how perfect the Trek FX line is for riders who want to keep up with the road bikes, but not be forced into the bent-over position that roadies employ. But those reviews usually assume some aptitude on the part of the FX rider. How appropriate is this bike for total beginners?

The short answer is: though a few things could be improved, it’s a winner.

We bought an FX 7.6 for my partner Maria, who hasn’t slung a leg over a bike in a decade or so. And even when she did ride, her experience was limited to cruisers. She was extremely intimidated by the idea of having any gears at all, much less 27 of them. She was also pretty frightened of going downhill any faster than she could run, and most of all she was worried about sitting on a saddle for lengthy periods of time. Yet for all this, she signed up for Cycle Oregon this year.

The Trek FX 7.6 is a capable, comfortable bike. One distinct advantage of this model over the others is the rich blue color!

Obviously we needed a bike that would not only enable her to ease into the sport, but also be fast, light and stable enough to grow with her and perform well on Cycle Oregon. We narrowed the search down to the Orbea Aneto (similar to the Diem), the Specialized Sirrus, and the Trek FX. In the end we chose the Trek because it fit well and had the best combination of features for the price. And also because it’s blue.

The FX was a revelation for Maria. She was instantly comfortable on it, more comfortable than she’d expected to be. The FlexForm saddle design, which pivots slightly with each pedal stroke, is the greatest thing ever for beginner riders. Maria hasn’t even had a twinge. (I think about all those spring rides where I had to clench my teeth and pay my dues, and am frankly a little envious of her gentle introduction to this concept.) On the down side, the flexy part also creaks on each stroke.

The upright riding position and flat bar is very easy for new riders to get used to; much easier than drop bars. And the bike is stable despite its light weight, allowing Maria to quickly build confidence in her descents. The carbon fork and elastomer insert in the seat stay, in combination with the FlexForm saddle, really do dampen road vibration. (Note: the 7.7 and 7.9 models add a carbon seat post for even more dampening.)

The position of the brake levers and shifters are easy to adjust, requiring nothing more than the loosening of a single allen bolt. That made it simple to rearrange them to fit Maria’s small hands. And the faceplate on the stem makes removing the bar for transport a matter of unscrewing two allen bolts and letting the face plate drop off. No need to take the stem out of the frame.

The gear indicators show that this bike is currently in one of its lowest gears. But the display is counterintuitive, since lower gears are on the left side of the crankset/cassette, not the right. A homemade gear chart helps a newbie rider remember what the indicators are saying.

Also on the handlebar is a feature designed specifically for beginners: a pair of gear indicators to let the rider know exactly which chainrings and rear cogs are being used. In theory this is a great idea, but Shimano’s implementation is counterintuitive, at least to us. The indicators show an orange line on a black background, which moves to the right for lower gears and to the left for higher gears. It would make so much more sense if the indicators moved in the same direction as the chain, which of course travels to the left for lower gears and to the right for higher ones. Continually stymied by the gear indicators (and not yet confident enough to check the chain’s position by sight), Maria finally resorted to making a little chart on pieces of masking tape and fixing them to her bars.

I also question Trek’s choice of gears for this bike. The 7.5 model is obviously designed for easier climbing, with its 48/36/26 crankset. The 7.6, however, has a standard roadie 50/39/30 crankset, and combines this with a 9-speed 11-26 cassette. This gives a low gear of 30×26, which is a hard gear for a beginner to push uphill. If you go up the line to the 7.7 or 7.9 models, you get a 10-speed 12-27 cassette. So the 7.6 has a higher low gear than any of the other top FX models. The gearing is great for flats and rolling hills, but we live in a steeply hilly area — and Cycle Oregon is famous for its climbs. We will probably be changing out the inner chain ring in order to give Maria the gears she needs.

The pedals, on the other hand, are genius. They’re regular flat pedals on one side, and have Shimano SPD-compatible clips on the other. This enables a new rider to get plenty comfortable on the bike before venturing into the world of clipless pedaling. And when the time comes to try going clipless, there’s no need to buy new pedals, which makes the prospect easier on both the pocketbook and the sense of mental preparation.

One drawback to the design of this bike’s frame (and true of any bike with a small triangle, not just the FX) is that it only fits one water bottle. That’s probably not an issue for most people, but for riding in Portugal, it’s definitely a problem. It’s also a problem in Cycle Oregon, which mandates two water bottles. Fortunately, there are inexpensive ways to mount bottle cages to handlebars and seatposts.

As a bike for a beginner, the Trek FX 7.6 shines in many ways — the light weight, stability, vibration dampening features, cushy saddle, upright position, easily adjusted brake levers/shifters and genius pedals are all perfect for a rider just entering the world of cycling. The down sides are the counterintuitive gear indicators and the non-beginner rear cassette.

Overall, I expect that this bike will be with us for a long time, growing with Maria as she gains strength and confidence. And that was the whole point of choosing the FX.